Changes: The Loss (episode)

Revision as of 18:51, 25 March 2010

Template:Realworld

Deanna loses her empathic powers; the Enterprise is slowly pulled off course by an unknown force existing in two-dimensional form.

Summary

After being unable to pinpoint the source of some strange patterns (initially thought to be sensor "ghosts"), the Enterprise tries to reengage warp drive but finds itself being dragged along at one-tenth impulse with no way to break free its present course. During the initial encounter, several crew members, including Deanna Troi, report potent headaches. Dr. Crusher's examination of Troi is cut short as Captain Picard calls a staff meeting to discuss the ship's present situation.

Data reveals that both the strange patterns and the source of the pull on the Enterprise are unknown two-dimensional beings, who have length and width but no height, explaining why the crew was unable to consistently see the beings when they first approached. When Picard asks Troi if she senses intelligence, she responds no, not because she is certain the beings lack intelligence but because she has lost her empathic abilities and cannot get readings on the beings or any of the Enterprise's crew members.

While first exhibiting signs of denial and believing that the loss of her abilities is only temporary, Troi becomes increasingly angry at her situation, including launching into a tirade after Crusher admits she cannot tell if the brain damage revealed by medical scans is a temporary phenomenon. Deciding that she can no longer effectively serve as ship's counselor without her empathic abilities, Troi tenders her resignation to Picard. She later confesses to Riker that she feels trapped in a two-dimensional world of her own, as everyone around her is like flat holodeck projections because she cannot share their emotions; although concerned for his Imzadi, Riker points out that her empathy gave her a sense of comfort and control that let her "aristocratic" Betazoid half dominate and effectively shunt her human half to the side.

Troi winds up in Ten-Forward, when Guinan approaches and reveals that she will be applying to the position of ship's counsellor, given the job's similarities with her bartending duties. Troi, relying on her human intuition, instinctively knows that Guinan really had no interest in the job and realizes that she could still serve the ship with only her human abilities. Troi's confidence is further bolstered by a crew member who admitted that Troi perfectly read her true emotions even without her empathic abilities.

Meanwhile, Data discovers that the two-dimensional beings are dragging the ship towards a cosmic string, a one-dimensional version of a black hole, spelling certain destruction. Faced with greater urgency, Worf fires photon torpedoes in front of and into the two-dimensional beings, but the weapons are ineffective. Left with few alternatives, Picard asks Troi to work with Data on efforts to communicate with the beings.

Still uncertain of how she can contribute, Troi realizes that the Enterprise needs to think two-dimensionally and speculates that the two-dimensional beings are moving toward the cosmic string by instinct. With this in mind, Data proposes imitating the vibrations of the cosmic string, which might cause enough of a response in the beings to allow the ship to break free. Moments before the ship is drawn into the string, La Forge and Data successfully mimic the vibrations of the string, which causes the beings to pause and gives the Enterprise the opportunity to move away from the string.

Now on the bridge as the Enterprise accelerates away from the two-dimensional beings, Troi experiences another headache; this one, however, heralds the return of her empathic abilities, reflected in her revelation that the beings were intentionally heading "home" toward the cosmic string, which wouldn't cause any harm to them. She realizes that the high number of two-dimensional beings sharing the emotion of happiness at approaching their home had briefly overwhelmed her empathic abilities. Now fully restored, Troi informs Guinan that the position of ship's counselor has been filled and resumes her post.

Memorable Quotes

"Therapists are always the worst patients. Except for doctors, of course."

- Beverly Crusher

"A resumption of our present course at warp six will place us in the T'lli Beta system in six days, thirteen hours forty-seven minutes."
"What, no seconds?"
"I have discovered, Sir, a certain level of impatience when I calculate a lengthy time interval to the nearest second. However, if you wish..."
"No, no. Minutes is fine."

- Data and Riker

"Is this how you handle all of your personnel problems?"
"Sure. You'd be surprised how far a hug goes with Geordi, or Worf."

- Deanna Troi and Riker

"I look around me and all I see are surfaces without depth; colorless, hollow. Nothing seems real."

- Deanna Troi

"You were right though: there is something to be learned when you are not in control of every situation."
"Welcome to the human race..."

- Deanna and Riker

"We have to get two dimensional"
"Pardon?"

- Deanna' and Data

Background Information

This is the first episode of TNG that did not feature Wil Wheaton as a regular, as his character Wesley Crusher had departed for Starfleet Academy in the previous episode. Wil Wheaton reprises Wesley in TNG: "The Game", "The First Duty", "Parallels" and "Journey's End".
According to Michael Piller, the writing staff considered making Troi's loss of her empathic sense permanent. (Star Trek: The Next Generation Companion)
The structural integrity field, an important part of a spacecraft's systems, was first referenced in this episode.
The Breen are also mentioned for the first time in this episode; they are, like the Ferengi, empathically undetectable by Betazoids.
The counselor's office was slightly modified after its last appearance in "The Price" but its appearance remains pretty much unchanged from this episode on.
Cosmic strings were later mentioned by Deanna Troi again, in "Disaster", when Miles O'Brien clarified that they are "a completely different phenomenon" from quantum filaments.
T'lli Beta was named after author Hilary J. Bader's grandmother, Tillie Bader. (Star Trek Encyclopedia)
The two-dimensional lifeforms that feature in this episode were created by filming small pieces cut from a plastic carrier bag floating on the surface of a water tank. ^{(citation needed • edit)}

Video and DVD releases

Original UK VHS release (two-episode tapes, CIC Video): Volume 42, 9 March 1992.
UK re-release (three-episode tapes, Paramount Home Entertainment): Volume 4.4, 2 July 2001.
As part of the TNG Season 4 DVD collection.

Links and references

Starring

Uncredited Co-Stars

References

Aristocratic; Bayesian function; black hole; Bracas V; Betazoid; birthday; brain; Breen; Brooks, Marc; cerebellum; cerebral cortex; cosmic string; counselor; counselor's office; deflector; electromagnetic spectrum; empathy; event horizon; Ferengi; frequency scan detector; Gates; ghost; graviton field; headache; Himalayas; holo-programs; horse; Imzadi; internuncial series; Kabul River; kilodyne; language; Martinez; moth; music box; neurophysiology; Newton; nursery; parabolic dish; photon torpedo; probe; proton; psychology; sensor array; sentience; skin diving; star; Starfleet Academy; structural integrity field; subspace; T'lli Beta; T'lli Beta system; T'lli Betans; tea; tractor beam; two-dimensional lifeforms; violin; wheelchair

Previous episode:
"Final Mission"

Star Trek: The Next Generation
Season 4

Next episode:
"Data's Day"

@@ Line 124: / Line 124: @@
 {{TNG nav|season=4|last={{e|Final Mission}}|next={{e|Data's Day}}}}
+[[Category:TNG episodes|Loss, The]]
 [[de:Das kosmische Band]]
 [[es:The Loss]]
+[[fr:The Loss]]
 [[it:La perdita (episodio)]]
 [[ja:TNG:失われたテレパシー]]
 [[nl:The Loss]]
 [[pl:The Loss]]
-[[Category:TNG episodes|Loss, The]]